Taken By Storm
by Aquariuss
Summary: Nobody knows AU. When the all powerful ruler of the Ghost Zone finally goes after the human world, it's up to a slightly dysfunctional group of ghosts, a half ghost, and a human to step in and save the day. More info inside. Based in the AU I'm creating with my other story, Ectoplasmic Secrets. Currently on hiatus (edited 5-16-19)
1. Introduction

**Introduction**

 _Welcome! Many of you may be coming here from my other fic, Ectoplasmic Secrets, so those of you who are probably already heard much of this from my author's notes over there._

 _To those of you who haven't read my other story, also welcome! ES is basically an accomplice fic to this one that offers much of the background information from which this story will be based off. If you haven't read that one first or just don't plan on reading it, that's totally fine, but I will warn that this one may be slightly confusing to you at times. To help avoid some confusion, I will be putting a brief summary of the necessary background info at the bottom of this page._

 _Some quick notes before getting started! This story kicks off near the beginning of junior year. Currently (when I've uploaded this) ES is only around February of Freshman year, so it's a little bit of a jump. Also, I will try my best to get an update for this story out weekly, but because of school and also continuous updates to ES, it may have to be pushed to once every two weeks from time to time._

 _Well, that's mostly all, I hope you will enjoy this story, I know I have a lot of fun planning and writing it, so hopefully you all can enjoy it as much as I have :)_

 _Thanks for reading!_

* * *

Here is also just a basic summary of ES or the background for this AU:

This is a nobody knows AU to start off with. Basically, when the accident happened, Danny had been home all alone and decided not to say anything to anyone about it. In this society, ghosts are known and acknowledged as real and a threat worldwide. Ghost hunters and the GIW take their jobs seriously. In the Ghost Zone, a tyrannical ruler has ascended to the throne and taken control over the ancients' powers. Clockwork, one of the ancients, saw the need for peace to be restored between both worlds and has since been secretly contacting and aiding a group of ghosts called the Alliance, who defy the king's rule. They have also been depending on a prophecy created by the Ghost Zone itself that states two halfas are to return the balance.


	2. Chapter 1

**Taken by Storm**

Chapter 1

 _Growing Darkness_

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Ghosts were gathered in the kingdom from far and wide across the Infinite Realms on this day. Every type of ghost could be found there from humanoids, to ectoplasmic monsters, to formless energy blobs that were still barely holding onto sentience. The majority were Royalists, completely loyal to their ruler of the Ghost Zone, others were neutral in the matter, but there were a few Alliance, either supporters or members, hidden amongst the crowd. _Their_ main purpose for being there was only to know what was going on as all the thousands of ghosts that had all assembled there were on the account of their king having an important message to give to them.

Everyone was waiting, floating in front of the palace, but of course not to close because there were guards that would probably vaporize them if anyone stepped too close. The palace itself was massive, the front, black bricked walls reaching at least a hundred feet tall and the highest turret around three times higher. The green glow reflecting from the pure ectoplasm in the sky of the Infinite Realms cast an eerie shine over the medieval looking castle.

The crowd wasn't like any gathering you'd see in the human world because, well, simply because they were ghosts. They hovered, suspended in the air at all different levels, although not many dared to float any higher than the barrier wall.

As they waited, most mumbled quietly to one another, trying to figure out what this was all about. A few had formed predictions that were fairly close to the truth, but not many. The crowd shifted and murmured in anticipation some more before at last, the balcony doors at the front of the castle opened and their ruler and dictator stepped out, followed by two of his puppets.

Huge bat like wings were folded behind his back in an act of making himself appear far superior and large talons gripped the edge of the balcony. Warm grey hair was slicked back and crimson eyes glowed ominously. Behind him, Plasmius and Zyra shot each other a small look.

"Citizens of the Infinite Realms!" the King began as the crowd instantly silenced. After a long pause he continued, "For decades you have been oppressed and denied access from a world that is rightfully yours." A few shouts of protest erupted from the braver of the bunch. "The humans, they think they know everything. Those horrid beings, they say we cannot feel. They say we cannot reason. They _even_ _dare_ to say we have no sentience!"

More of the crowd became riled up at these remarks and more began to shout in revulsion. Vlad grinned maliciously at how _easily_ a crowd could be persuaded into the mob mentality. They were only making themselves more vulnerable and easy to manipulate.

"Humans only see themselves as the superior species, but I say they are sorely mistaken." Slowly, a few ghosts began to cheer. "My fellow ghosts," the king continued with a vicious smile, "today is the day when we will deliver you your freedom back. No longer will those hunters keep you away from your homes! Earth is where you are from, where _we_ are from. We deserve it just as much as those humans, no, we deserve it _more_ than them!"

The hoard of ghosts were nearly in a frenzy. The energy in the air kept the ghosts cheering as the vengeful, vicious emotions circulated through them all. Most remained oblivious to the fact that they were playing right into the king's hand. The ruler himself actually held little interest in the claims he was making, nor did either of his puppets. All the king truly desired was power and to gain ultimate control over two worlds. Of course he didn't care about giving the ghosts their home back, he wasn't even of Earth himself. He was practically a demon spawned from hell, he had no real soul.

"When the sun sets in Amity Park, most haunted human city on the planet, we will take that city and the rest of the human world by storm!" at this point most of the crowd was chanting something along the lines of 'take it back', with 'it' likely referring to the Earth. In their crazed mind sets, most didn't even realize the stupidity of what they were chanting. The Earth had never been 'theirs' in the first place. As ghosts they had been given a whole new world to have as their own, but even the fact that most had lived on Earth as humans didn't make it 'theirs' to claim.

Once the king's seemingly successful speech had been delivered the ghosts dispersed. Some went to Eidolon City, others to the farther reaches of the Infinite Realms, some even traveled towards the Far Frozen, however their goals were all the same: to spread the word.

No ghost went into Amity Park after the king's speech, and they wouldn't for the next few hours until the first move had been made.

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 **A/N: This chapter is _very_ short compared to what can be expected for the rest! I guess you can think of this as more of a prologue than a full chapter, but I'll still be calling it such.**

 **So welcome to the first bit of the story! I know this one may or may not seem a little boring, but there is plenty in store! :) Hopefully I'll see some of you stick around for the long haul :D**

 **See ya next time and please review if you've got the time! It helps tons with motivation and knowing reader's interests! :)**

 **Replies will always be posted at the top of the following chapter and in order.**


	3. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews and here and the replies!

 **SilverBlood5:** Glad you like it so far! Hopefully it will live up to your expectations! :)

 **Unlucky Alis:** Lol yeah, they're pretty dull if even Technus could see past it XD Definitely jumping right into the action as you'll see with this chapter and even more so in the next one. :)

 **Nari-nee-chan:** Glad you're interested! I hope I will be able to keep your interest in the story :)

 **Joy Phantom:** You make me excited, with how excited you are! XD You were right about the club thing, which I'm pretty sure you already know by now lol. Don't worry, PP is not going to be a thing XD lol "unkill" but you're right, that probably should have killed him. Thanks for that super long review! Have a great day :)

 **Poksie:** :)

 **Guest:** You're welcome! (I guess? XD) glad you like it!

Thank you to everyone who has read/favorited/followed/reviewed! It is greatly appreciated!

* * *

 **Taken By Storm**

Chapter 2

 _The Calm and The Chaos_

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The sun shone brightly, reflecting off the sides of the tall skyscrapers as it neared the horizon. The city was alive and beautiful. It was thriving more now than probably ever before. People were no longer afraid of anything and everything that went bump in the night. They didn't need to be. Amity Park now had two pretty competent superheroes to look up to…literally, as they both spent most their time in the air, whether it be by jet sled or supernatural abilities.

Powerful storm clouds lurched miles away, but the purples and pinks that covered them made them appear as harmless as a puppy. The birds sang freely, but only for now.

Phantom darted between a few buildings at a speed that was unmatchable before pulling himself higher into the air. For being a Monday, it sure was turning out to be a great day. For the first time in a _long_ while there were no ghostly interruptions at school, and even now, on his quick patrol before sundown, there wasn't a single ghost lingering around the city. It almost felt weird.

Another good thing about that day was no Red Huntress waiting around every corner trying to kill him. Albeit, she had cooled down quite a bit since freshman year as now she was releasing most of her hatred only on the ghosts that were _actually_ in the wrong. She had started off solely for vengeance, but over time it seemed to Danny like she was starting to leave whatever selfishness she'd had in the past.

One more plus to the day was the lack of hunters on the streets that evening. Of course, they were always around, but they also tended to come in waves. One day there'd be hunters packed full of determination wherever you turned, the next day there might only be a few wandering around. Over the past two years Danny had also picked up the very helpful ability to pick them out in a crowd, since sometimes they weren't quite as obvious as his own parents were.

After a few more minutes of floating aimlessly through the humid sky, Danny landed on the roof of one of the tallest buildings and changed back after checking for any surveillance cameras. Once back in his human form, he could see everything in their normal colors again, only thanks to the fake, but not fake glasses he wore.

The sun and the sky looked brighter now and the buildings had lost the weird tinges of exotic color they once held. The clouds also looked more- _whoa that storm looks a lot closer now…and darker,_ Danny realized. They flashed brightly a few times which was later followed by a low rumble piercing the air.

Figuring he still had a while before the storm hit, if it even did, Danny took the moment to just relax on the rooftop. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the group chat with Tucker and Sam. Surprisingly there were a few new messages. The three of them used to use that chat basically 24/7, but had begun using it less and less recently. Of course, they still hung out a lot, and they always talked at school, it was just that nothing was like it used to be.

Another half hour or so later the sun was finally creeping away with only a single orange sliver peeking over the horizon still. The tallest building in Amity Park was still being illuminated slightly by the light reflecting brightly off the windows.

Lights in the city had begun coming on as the daytime quickly diminished. The last of the sunlight slipped away finally and the birds suddenly became silent.

The storm had advanced quite a bit as the clouds were now reaching over the city, as if grasping onto it to pull itself in. Just as Danny looked, a spider webbed bolt touched down somewhere off the edge of town. It flashed repeatedly as the electricity shot through the air from the cloud to the ground.

 _Green electricity swirled. Piercing. White-hot. Reaching for the metal frame of the portal._

Without warning a sharp splitting sound penetrated the air, followed by the lower roar of the thunder. It was deafening and the vibrations from it could almost be felt.

Deciding it would be best to start heading home, Danny triggered the electric rings that formed around him. The colors shifted once again, granting everything in sight an exotic tinge.

A small, urgent buzz suddenly originated from the band wrapped around his left forearm. There was an incoming call from someone in the Alliance, but Danny couldn't find the time to pick up thanks to what happened next.

It began on the edge of town. A blaring sound he'd only heard twice. Once when Vortex had escaped. The other time when Undergrowth had finally lost it and tried to conquer the world with his plant 'children'. It was an awful noise that spread quickly through the city, louder than the thunder. People on the sidewalks far below yelled in both surprise and fear of the dreaded sirens.

Danny didn't waste another moment and jumped off the rooftop, heading for where the sirens had started from at top speed. The sky continued to flash brightly at random and the wind had begun whipping up as well. Dread had begun creeping its way into Danny's mind in fear of what he'd find at the edge of the city.

Skyscrapers began getting shorter and as Danny came over the last tall one, he felt his stomach twist at the sight.

There were hundreds, thousands possibly. They varied in almost every way, shape, and form, yet they still appeared unified. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this was the Royalists. _But how? They weren't supposed to go after human territory for at least three years! That's what Clockwork predicted._

Coming back into the real world, Danny called the first name he found on the small screen on his wrist. Before he could even say anything, someone said in a rush, "We _know_ Dipstick, we're on our way." Ember hung up before Danny was able to utter a sound, leaving him standing there on the roof, staring down at an entire army.

It was a pretty hopeless situation. He was almost completely at loss of what to do. The odds were definitely _not_ in his favor and even if the entire Alliance were there, they would still be outnumbered ten to one.

The Royalists began advancing on the city.

The others were on their way. The city was home to innumerable professional ghost hunters, including the Red Huntress. There was still some hope.

But if any humans got hurt or worse… _they never asked for this. They're just stuck in the crossfire…_

 _This isn't about winning. It's about protecting them from what has become of the Ghost Zone._

* * *

A large serpent like ghost hit the side of a building causing some of the bricks to go hurling towards the ground. Underneath, there appeared to be a family of three, and a young couple. Danny's eyes widened and he dove for the airspace between the bricks and the civilians below, throwing up an ectoplasmic shield in the process. He made it just in time as the bricks slammed against the shield and slipped down to the ground. The humans under the shield stood still in shock, looking up at the ghost that had just saved them.

"Is everyone ok?" he asked, the audio altering device on his collar distorting his voice strangely. He got a few terrified nods in response.

"There's a safe zone about two blocks that way" Danny said, pointing with the hand not holding the shield, "I'll make sure you get there safely, but we gotta move fast. Can you do that?" He winced slightly when another ghost had thrown something at the shield he was holding.

The people agreed and they began running in the direction of one of the safe zones that had been established quickly after the sirens had gone off. The safe zones had been a thing for a while now, they were basically just extra large ghost shields, completely unbreakable and usually about a mile in diameter. They were one of the few inventions by ghost hunters that Danny was extremely grateful for with the amount of lives they saved.

Thankfully a lot of people had managed to make it to one of the spots _already_ , while most others were hiding in their homes or nearby stores.

Once the people had made it securely into the safe zone shield, Danny let down his own shield and took off again to try and find anyone else who was in danger. He'd already decided that picking fights with any of the Royalists would end badly due to their overwhelming numbers, plus he'd only tire himself out even more and not be able to help the people who needed it.

It had only been about ten to fifteen minutes but so far, he had managed to get about twelve groups of people out of the danger. There was already a lot of damage done, mainly on the East edge of town wherever wasn't protected by shields.

Another gust of wind came through the street and Danny got pushed into the side of the building he was by. Thunder cracked overhead once again. After straightening himself out, Danny continued going through a back alley and onto the next street. There were a group of Royalists passing through, inspecting the area for any more damage that could be done or humans to be taken care of. A few threw some ectoblasts at structures, but what caught Danny's attention was the ghost that had pulled a girl, probably around twelve years old, out of a hiding spot behind a trashcan.

He wasted no time as he fired one shot at the slimy hand that gripped the girl's arm and flew towards her. The ghost screeched, pulling their hand back and looking around, but Danny had already scooped up the girl and flown off in the other direction invisibly.

When he got the edge of the shield again, some people inside noticed and took the girl with them. She had some cuts and bruises, and was in a bit of a state of shock, but she'd be alright.

Danny went back to looking for people and noticed as he began feeling droplets of water hitting his face. The sky was nearly pitch black but being lit up every few seconds by the flashes of lightning bolts. Heavy wind gusts shook the trees violently and made it hard to stay steady in the air.

Another group of Royalists appeared, about ten of them this time. Unfortunately this time they spotted him and began stalking closer. Their glowing eyes were all focused in on him as they crept forwards with a couple more appearing on the sides of him. A few brandished their weapons while the other charged up ectoblasts, provoking Danny to charge his own.

Out of the blue, there was a high pitched whine above him and to his right. A fuchsia colored energy bolt fired and hit one of the Royalists with a deadly aim. Glancing up, he saw Valerie standing firmly on her hoverboard with a smoking gun.

A few of the ghosts split off from the group and went after Valerie, who gave chase, speeding down the street until she out of sight. Danny would have been worried, but he knew she could usually hold her own pretty well.

The remaining ghosts turned back to him with malicious smiles. Before they could make their move, he fired off three shots, each one hitting their mark. One Royalist fired a high energy weapon, but he ducked right in time, allowing the shot to take out the ghost that had gone around behind him.

The one on his left slashed a sword. He backed up, but apparently not enough as he got a gash on his left shoulder. It stung as the rain hit it, green and red blood dripping from the cut.

Danny reached to his ice core and froze the one with the sword's feet to the ground. The last one fired a shot at him but missed, instead resorting to some sort of ectoplasmic lasso. The ghost quickly threw it with practiced aim.

His arms got stuck to his sides, caught in the loop. Thinking quick, Danny grabbed the ectogun that was in a holster on his right hip and fired once at the ghost.

The last Royalist fell to the ground and Danny wormed his way out of the lasso loop before putting the gun back in the holster. He didn't really like using weapons made by his parents, but since they had helped in situations like that before, he always kept at least one on him now.

He looked over at his shoulder, which stung like hell. The bleeding wasn't too bad and it didn't appear to be all that deep, thankfully probably not even needing stitches.

"You won't stand a chance against us you hear me?!"

Danny looked over at the ghost with the sword and his feet frozen to the ground before sighing and firing a small ectoblast just to knock him out.

The street was quiet now, well, besides the sound of the storm raging overhead. Visibility was low with the rain bucketing down, sticking some of Danny's white hair down to his forehead. The Royalists had mostly moved on past the East side of the city by now, which meant he'd have to make it farther ahead of them to hopefully get some people out of the area before they got there.

Suddenly there was a low growl from an alleyway nearby. Danny turned and saw two glowing red eyes before being tackled to the ground.

"Well, well, you seem to be a bit out of your league, don't you?"

He glared at the green colored panther pinning him to the ground. Danny tried going intangible to escape, but the other ghost anticipated the moved and canceled it out.

"Where's Spectra? Or did her little _pet_ run away from home?" Danny asked. It was becoming a struggle to keep his eyes open with the rain pummeling down.

Bertrand growled and dug his claws into the palms of Danny's hands who yelled out in pain.

"Tell me child, where's the rest of your pathetic little group? Or did they leave the little _loser_ ghost to try and fend for himself?"

"Hey!" a loud voice yelled and Bertrand was kicked hard in the stomach by a heavy skull boot. The panther was thrown away from Danny and before he could recover from the first attack, was slammed by an amplified ectoblast from a special power chord.

After a moment, Bertrand struggled but managed to get up on all four paws again. He growled threateningly, but limped away towards where the rest of the Royalists were going. Danny took a deep breath and sat up, "Thanks"

Ember looked at him, "You alright Babypop?"

Danny nodded and stood up, avoiding putting his hands down, "Yeah." His white gloves were splotched with red and green and the rain began washing some of it away. "Are the others here? Is there a plan?"

"Most of them, yeah. Right now our best plan is keep people safe and take down as many of those Royalist bastards as we can."

Danny chuckled slightly, "Some plan."

"Yeah well we aren't ready yet. We thought we had another two or three years. This is the best we've got for right now."

Danny floated off the ground, legs forming into a spectral tail, "Then let's do it."

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 **A/N: I spent soooo long writing this today XD I realized it had been more than a week and was just like 'oh shit! I still gotta write the whole chapter!' Lol, but at least it was a fun one to write.**

 **Hopefully this longer, more action packed chapter is better than that boring prologue last chapter XD**

 **Did any of you see the solar eclipse today?! I didn't because I didn't have glasses, and we couldn't see anything here just by glancing, but oh well :) Hopefully some of you had a better experience!**

 **Lemme know your thoughts/concerns/questions! I'll answer as long as it's not spoiler related!**

 **See ya soon and please review if you have the time! It helps lots with the motivation and knowing what you guys want to see more/less of!**


	4. Chapter 3

Thanks for the review and here are the replies!

 **Poksie:** You live in Africa?! That's cool! I didn't know that :) and the battle continues this chapter :)

 **Joy Phantom:** Wowie that's a long review XD Yes to the colors thing, that's going to be a little better explained in ES :) Sam and Tucker will come in eventually. Thanks for bringing up the whole deathday thing! I hadn't thought much on it before, but now I might be adding an ES chapter about it :D The lore thing is also an excellent idea! I'll think about doing that in the future, but for right now I'm just trying to get used to having two stories to update often XD but maybe eventually :) Lol kittens are the best. Thanks for the long review! Very helpful :)

 **SilverBlood5:** Glad I could get you hooked! And I'm also glad I could introduce Ember in a new light for you :) As for your question, unfortunately Danielle will not be in this story. I do however, have some ideas forming recently for another separate story I might do in the future focusing on her :)

Thank you so much to everyone who has read/followed/favorited/reviewed! Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

 **Taken By Storm**

Chapter 3

 _Declaration_

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The crack of thunder split the sky as the wind and rain continued to beat down on the city of Amity Park. The storm hadn't let up one bit, nor had the attack. It'd been over an hour and the situation had failed to get better in the slightest. Nearly half of the Alliance was down, unable to continue fighting, while only a measly little fraction of the Royalists had been stopped. All in all, they were losing and they were losing _bad_.

The only somewhat good thing about the night was the fact that almost ninety five percent of the town's citizens were safe under various protective shields. It was one of the few times they were actually _glad_ Amity was so used to and prepared for ghost attacks, whether they be small or large scale.

"All Alliance. Head towards City Hall. We will regroup there." the announcement rang in Danny's ear as he got back up off the ground for the umpteenth time that night. He was completely drenched with his white hair stuck down on his forehead, and by then covered in cuts and bruises as well.

He took a deep breath and took off from the ground once again. It was a struggle to fly in a straight line with the constant, yet uneven and turbulent wind gusts sweeping through the streets. He shut his eyes instinctively when a few drops of rain got in them and tried to rub them away.

When he opened his eyes again, Danny only saw a flash of something coming towards him before being shoved against the brick building beside him.

"Valerie?" he asked once his head had stopped spinning. She had him pinned against the side of the building between the two points on the front of her new and improved hoverboard.

"I've been trying to get to you for the past hour so you better explain _right now_ what the _hell_ is going on." She demanded with just a bit more anger in her voice than the usual.

He suppressed a laugh and wiped away the ectoplasm that dripped down from his lip. She didn't notice the crimson red mixed in with it, or if she did, she certainly didn't care enough to question it. "Nice to see you too."

Valerie growled, "Explain. _Now._ And if you're even a _little_ bit responsible for this you better be sure I will crush you within an inch of your afterlife."

"Yeah, whatever you say. Listen, would I look _nearly_ this beat up if I was _causing_ this?" he asked.

All he received as an answer was a blank expression, although to be fair, with the black screen visor covering the majority of her face, save for her nose and mouth, it was kind of hard to tell her expression.

"No. Okay, look, the ghosts that are _actually_ _attacking_ we call Royalists, the rest of us, who are just doing what we can to protect this town are from the Alliance."

"And what's that? Some kind of freaky ghost cult?" she asked skeptically.

"Oh for fuck's sake, _no_. The important thing is, the Royalists are the real enemy here." Danny said.

Valier seemed to think it over of r a second or two before saying, "Say there _was_ a group of you ghost not actually here to cause any more trouble, how would I even be able to tell you apart? From my perspective you're all ghosts, and you're all fighting, whether its humans or your own kind."

Danny breathed a sigh of relief in sensing she was starting to trust him on this one. It wouldn't seem like it to an outsider, but after three years of fighting each other, teaming up, then going back to fighting each other, Danny could tell that in her mind she was starting to accept that there were ghosts on both sides here. She was just too proud and stubborn to ever give in and admit to her enemy that he was right.

"Look," he said and showed her the little band wrapped around his upper right arm. It was sporting a small, circular symbol with six alternating black and white sections, and if you traced the lines between the sections it would look a bit like a capital A. "Every ghost here with _this_ symbol is on our side."

" _Our_ side?"

"We need your help, if only this time. We're already losing and at this point we're just trying to get the remaining people under the shields."

Valerie scoffed, "Yeah, what do you think I've been doing this whole time?" She finally put her board into reverse and hovered away from the brick building and releasing Danny. "I'll leave _you_ ghosts alone, but we ain't on the same side either, got it?"

Danny could only think to nod before she flew off in the other direction again. Well, it wasn't much of a truce, but at least she'd likely stick true to her word and avoid picking fights with any other Alliance members.

Suddenly remembering the message he'd gotten a minute or two ago, Danny sprang himself away from the wall and started toward city hall. He stayed relatively low to the ground the whole way, not wanting to risk missing someone who might need help, however, it seemed just about everyone from the areas he'd gone by had already gotten to safety. Thinking about it, it was kind of worrying that Amity Park was just _this_ used to large attacks. Everyone in town knew, and was used to the procedures when facing these sort of things.

Continuing over the streets and through the unforgiving onslaught of rain, Danny began to notice the Royalists seemed to be calming down. Most he could see floating far above the city, yet below the storm clouds. They weren't doing much anymore, no more havoc being caused, no more destruction being brought upon the town, and no more chasing after innocent citizens, although to be fair most of the were under the shields by then. It was just odd. Like they weren't really there just to take the city down or something, no, it was more like they had a job, and were just finishing up before waiting for more orders.

He cast one last wary look into the sky and just hoped desperately that the calm meant it would be the end of it all.

By the time Danny made it to the meet up point, most of the others were already there. They'd only been able to get about thirty to fifty of them there to the city, so many if not all of them, himself included, were looking a little worse for wear. About half of their group was from the Far Frozen, whose people were known for being very resistant and holding up through rough times, but even they definitely looked like they had seen better days.

Landing somewhere near the edge of the group, Danny began looking around for Pandora, the unofficial leader of the Alliance. Unofficial because they wanted to believe that everything they did was a group effort. Of course, they were a bit hypocritical about it as almost everyone tended to look to Pandora for guidance. At least it made sense however, with how old and experienced she was, plus she always knew the best tactics for them to use, no matter what it was for.

Danny found said ghost near the center of their group directing some others with her four arms. After they went off in separate directions, Pandora turned and noticed Danny standing there behind her, thankfully she was in her smaller form at the moment, otherwise he would've barely reached her knees.

"Phantom, are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah…what happened? I thought we had a couple years left, I mean- are they really-?"

Pandora crossed two of her arms, "Yes, we all thought so. It seems even Clockwork's abilities have been affected by the dampener curse Dark has placed over them."

Danny found it hard to believe. Clockwork was someone all the Alliance had placed their trust in, Danny more than anyone else. He was possibly the most powerful of all the ancients and had informed them before that his vision hadn't been damaged at all by the curse Eligo Dark had placed on them all. It was just tough to believe that either Clockwork had betrayed them, which was very unlikely, or he hadn't even realized his own sight had been impaired.

"…What do we do?" Danny asked.

Pandora hesitated, something she rarely did, "I…do not know. Right now we stay on defense and wait for the Royalists to make their next move."

And so that's what they did. For the next half hour they were forced to focus on protecting their own. The injured were kept near the middle of their group while the ghosts that still had their strength stayed on the outside occasionally fighting off a rogue Royalist or two that would come down from the skies looking to pick a fight with them. Thankfully they hadn't been bothered by any GIW… _yet._ It was likely only a matter of time before they gathered enough of their agents to confront them. For the moment though, they seemed to be more focused on the entire army of ghosts in the sky, rather than the small, weak group on the ground in front of city hall.

The storm was also starting to slow down, going from a full blown thunderstorm, to a light rain and a small breeze.

It was eerie enough with all the ghosts retreating and waiting in the sky, but when everything suddenly began falling into silence, it became downright nerve racking. There were no more attacks. People all over the city under shields kept their eyes trained up on the night sky in apprehension. The GIW, police, and other authority figures were at a loss of what to do. In all of the town's history of paranormal occurrences, they'd never had anything quite like this before.

The air grew thick and stale as the rain became little more than a drizzle.

Out of the clouds a figure began to emerge. People gasped all over the city and the news channels, both local and national, angled their cameras towards the sky as the form slowly took on a more definitive shape. A pair of massive bat like wings appeared, striking confusion into anyone who had done their homework on ghosts. They knew that any normal ghost doesn't have a need for wings of any sort, they can levitate on their own using the raw ectoplasmic energy from their core, even the ghosts that _did_ have wings, often didn't need or use them. This 'ghost' was different, they actually _used_ their wings for flight, not just for show.

Most of those who were wondering silently about this new ghost were taken from their thoughts however, when the figure landed atop the tallest skyscraper in Amity Park. Everyone there plus all the people watching the live broadcast all over the country and even the world, became quiet in worried anticipation of what the ghost would do next.

Large wings were extended in a show of power as the figure began to speak, voice echoing throughout the entire city. Somewhere in the back, the Fright Knight bowed his head from his flaming midnight stallion.

"Humans of Earth, I am Eligo Dark, ruler of the Infinite Realms, or as you puny people call it, the Ghost Zone."

Many eyes widened to that statement, some simply trying to make sense of how there could even be any form of monarchy within a mass of non sentient creatures.

"The human race has descended into madness and disorder. You live practically lawlessly. Day after day you destroy each other further, it is but a miracle we have made it here soon enough to save what is left of your pitiful species."

People found themselves shocked to hear the tables suddenly being turned as this ghost stood up there and talked down to the entire human race.

"I know none of you have the capability to lead your own world out of this darkness that has befallen you, thus as the representative of the Infinite Realms, I am declaring that we will gain complete rule of this world from this point forward."

A distant flash of lightning from the retreating storm lit up the sky behind the winged king of the Ghost Zone.

"From insight on your past behaviors it is obvious that many of you humans will revolt against this act, so I will make myself very clear. Until every last one of your chosen 'leaders' bows down to me, I will send my army to attack all of your largest cities and capitols one at a time."

Citizens watched in a stunned silence, realizing that the supposed king of the Ghost Zone was basically declaring war on the whole human population.

"I would dearly suggest that, for the wellbeing of your own kind, you all step down. There is truly no need for war, in fact you humans are the only ones deciding if we need to go that far. Do know, however, that should you resist, you will be crushed. Your weak species cannot compare to the power and intelligence we hold. Should you decide to place your trust into the Alliance, the pathetic little group of rogue ghosts that are surprisingly fighting for you, the same will happen. They had no power to even come close to stopping us tonight, and this is only a fraction of our power. They will all be eliminated and dealt with rather quickly.

"I advise your species to make up your minds very soon, or we will be taking another city down, only next time, there will be no holding back."

Before anyone could even react, Dark was in the sky again, strong wings pushing against the air. Just a moment later, a wide hole in the sky ripped open revealing a swirling green vortex. Eligo dove through and was soon followed by the rest of the Royalists.

It wasn't long before the skies were once again void of ghosts and people began talking again, some much louder than others, but all in alarm.

Danny stared as the hole in the sky began stitching itself back together. A bit of guilt settled into him at the sight of it. He knew it was Wulf, and he knew he'd likely been forced into doing it, it just felt horrible because Danny knew Wulf likely could have been free right there right then if it wasn't for him.

Realizing there were bigger things to worry about at the moment, he tried to stuff away all the self blame until later. Turning around, he saw Pandora still standing stiffly and looking down with two of her hands fiddling with each other in distress. It was a rather disturbing sight as usually the Greek goddess had confidence above all.

Danny decided he should try to talk to her, but before he could make it to her, she suddenly picked up again, "Everyone back to HQ immediately, we will discuss further there."

All the ghosts either got up slowly or looked around completely at loss. Frostbite took the moment to jump in, opening the Infimap that he often held, "There's a portal open for the next five minutes down this street here, let us get moving."

That seemed to do the trick as the rest of them began taking off, most by air, towards the portal. Danny was about to follow them all, but was stopped by Pandora.

"You need to get back to your family, they'll be very worried about you by now."

"But-"

"You can join us later, once they at least know you're alright."

He sighed and nodded, there was no point in arguing with her, it was like arguing with his mom. Before he could leave, four blue tinted arms wrapped around him. He stiffened in response as a bunch of the cuts and bruises he'd gained through the night suddenly made themselves known again.

"Goodbye Phantom."

Even more confusion settled in at the amount of emotion her voice suddenly held. Pandora was usually firm about everything and rarely let emotion guide her decisions. This sudden change was almost giving the night an even more eerie touch than it'd already had.

Not a moment later she was off, disappearing in the direction of the portal that was sure to be there, and leaving Danny standing there as probably the only remaining ghost in Amity Park.

* * *

 **A/N: I tried to get this one out sooner, but I'm sure y'all know how life goes and such.**

 **I'm super curious if you guys have any predictions yet, lemme know in the reviews if you do, I'd love to hear em!**

 **Side note, so I recently opened up character artwork commissions. I do canon characters, OC's, people from real life etc. More info is posted over on my Insta: AquariussArt**

 **Sorry about the self advertising, I hate doing it, but I'm really just trying super hard to get my art out there, so sharing about it is the best way I know of.**

 **Hopefully I can get chapter 4 up within a week, however it might be closer to a week and a half or so, whatever, we'll see how it goes. :)**

 **Last thing, if any of you are in the path of, or** _ **were**_ **in the path of Harvey or Irma, or have friends or family that are, I wish you the best.**

 **See ya soon and please leave a quick review if you've got some extra time! It truly helps out tons with motivation and knowing readers' interests! :)**


	5. AN: New Chapters In Progress

Sorry, this is not an actual chapter, just a quick AN.

Just wanted to share that yes, my updates to both my stories have been slowing down a bit. I also wanted to assure that no, I am not in any way abandoning either stories, they are very much in my mind.

The rest of this AN won't be too important, you don't have to read, I'm just sharing some things that have been going on recently. :)

So this week I've had lots of school projects to do, they've all gone smoothly, but it has prevented me from finding writing motivation lol. I've also been busy with some of my art projects, including two portraits of my sister's two cats that I'll be giving to her as a wedding present in less than three weeks now :) I am hoping to get at least one chapter of both ES and TBS up before relatives start arriving in town for the wedding in a couple weeks.

Aside from that, I've also been getting really into Supernatural lately lol. I had watched the first episode a while ago, then put it aside, never really finding the time to pick it back up again until last week. I'm stuck watching a couple episodes like every day now XD probably gonna finish up season 1 tonight lol.

Last thing, and if you're still reading, I'd honestly be very surprised XD So I've been figure skating as a hobby for a little over two years now, and for the past multiple months, I've been trying really hard to get a loop (one of the main figure skating jumps that I personally find to be more difficult than the others I currently know, like salchow, toe loop, waltz, half loop, half flip). I had been getting so depressed by it recently because I was just trying and trying and trying and trying, and failing and failing and failing and failing, but I was so happy last night at class when I _finally_ got it :D Of course, it's not perfect yet, but I know now that I can do it.

Anyways, I think that whole thing really taught me that people don't lie when they say that if you work for it, you can do anything. Sounds super cliché, yeah, but it's really true. Right now, doing an axel seems like the impossible. Like, hell, I can't even rotate enough for it _off_ ice yet, but I'm gonna get it eventually.

Alright, if you're STILL reading this, congratulations XD Hopefully that last bit was motivating to someone lol. I'll see y'all soon and hopefully with actual new chapters! Sorry for the delay and what was probably some false hope when you saw a new 'chapter' to these stories (posting this note under both TBS and ES)!

Have a wonderful day!


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